New Armor
by Tsukiau
Summary: Set in your perspective at the end of Iron Man 3. Don't read if you haven't seen the movie. Tony's faced with the uncertain future. Thankfully, you're there for support.
1. Hobby

I watch as Tony chucks his now useless ARC-Reactor from the ruins of his house into the ocean. I can't help but be kind of sad at the fact he would no longer be the Armored Avenger. But if he's happy just as a normal genius billionaire playboy philanthropist, then I guess that's good enough for me.

He gets back into the driver's seat and I lean over the backrest. "Well that was really scary adventure. Kidnapping the president, crashing into Tennessee, getting attacked by terrorists and human bombs, that's over the top even for you."

"Yeah I know. Glad it's over?" Tony mumbles as he stares to the horizon.

I shrug. "I can't say I won't miss almost dying everytime I visit you. But it's kinda sad that we won't have anymore adventures." I let that sit in the air for a while. Tony looks almost nostalgic. I rummage through my bookbag. "By the way, I was able to salvage this. It's still working, I think." I hand Tony a small, cylinder-like machine. It's really battered and dented but it's still shining a dim blue light, and faintly humming. Around it is a chipped and broken ring. But I can still read the engraving, "PROOF THAT TONY STARK HAS A HEART".

Tony turns his first ever ARC-Reactor over and over in is hands. I wonder if he's remembering making that little battery in that cave in Afghanistan with a kind doctor and illegal weapons dealers at our throats. Good times.

I clear my throat. "So that's it then, huh. You're done building suits. All of your old ones are destroyed. Are you gonna stop being Iron Man? No more armor?"

Tony doesn't respond for a while. Then he looks back to the ocean. "Oh I dunno...I mean, everybody needs a hobby."

I smile and pat his shoulder. "There's the Tony I know."


	2. Pepper

"Are you sure about this Tony?" I ask as I watch my friend open a new datafile on his computer. As I looked over his shoulder to the green hologram that waited in front of Tony, waiting to be tinkered with.

"Having second thoughts already?" Tony asked, but his focus wasn't really on me. I couldn't expect him to though. I recognized that look on his face. It was his Mechanic's Face. Whenever he made that face, he was basically saying, "Look, you can talk to me, but don't expect me to really listen to you." That's a really bad habit has. He's done it ever since I met him. "Weren't you the one who said you'll miss our adventures?"

"Uh, well yeah, but I'm just saying, you literally blew up all of your armor last week." I say, trying to get him to pay attention to me, but he's too focused on filling the datafile with information I couldn't understand to save my life. It's probably programming for his new suit.

"Yeah so?" Tony says. His fingers flying across his keyboard. "It was called Clean Slate for a reason."

It's horrible arguing with Tony. Because he's so stupidly smart, you can never get your point across without him contradicting your every statement with a logical counter. I have sympathy for Pepper now. She's been doing this years before I waltzed in. Maybe that's how she got so smart. Finding good arguments against Tony is not an easy feat. It's something only accomplished by people with a higher IQ than normal people, like me. For Pepper to accomplish such a thing suddenly puts her at the top of my 'most respected' list.

"Tony, you're not listening." I say, still trying without success to get his attention.

"Yeah, you know me so well." His eyes never leave the hologram. Finally I get fed up.

"Listen!" I forcibly turn Tony's chair away from the hologram so he has to look at me.

"Well that was rude." he mumbles.

"Tony, have you thought about Pepper?" I ask. No response. "You destroyed all your armor because you knew how much she disliked the fact you put yourself in danger all the time. Have you thought about what she will think about this?"

"What I'll think about what?" I look up to see Tony's girlfriend walk into the room. I must admit, she looks awesome. Her strawberry blonde hair is brushed and her makeup is light. Just how Tony likes it. She's looking beautiful and one hundred percent Extremis free. I think Tony likes girls best like that.

Whoa, where did that come from. We're just in an awkward moment right?

Tony gets up from his chair. I step back to give him the space he needs. I have the feeling what he's gonna say is gonna be impacting.

"What're you doing home so soon? You're supposed to be in DC right? Wanna drink?"

I nearly slap my forehead at Tony's idiocy. Dude, you're making this look more and more like a teenager having a party behind his parents' back. And if I know Pepper, she won't take Tony secretly making new armor well.

"Tony, what are you guys doing?" That's just like Pepper. Not taking any of Tony's funny business and getting down to the matter at hand. Tony hesitates. Pepper gets the hint. She really is smart. "Are you making more armor?"

"Busted." I can't help saying. Tony flashes me a well deserved glare.

"I'm not mad."

"Eh?" We both say.

"I'm not mad." Pepper clarified. We stare in shock at Pepper. I think besides Tony's enemies, Pepper was the one that was the most against the Iron Man armor. With good reason. Tony's suits attracted so many lunatics it would drive anyone crazy.

"It's true I felt relieved when you destroyed all your armor. But I also felt sad. It was like watching a part of you die. I realized that Iron Man is who you are. No matter what danger we were in, I loved watching how dedicated you became to protecting everyone. That intensity that shone in your eyes was unbelievable. It made my heart race. It was those times I knew that you are Iron Man, and this is what you loved to do. I couldn't help feeling sad when it was over."

I stare in surprise at Pepper. I never knew she saw Iron Man that way. And judging by the look on Tony's face, neither did he.

"So if you're building more armor, I don't mind. It's who you are. And no one can stop Tony Stark from being Iron Man." Pepper insists. I smile. Pepper's a really rare woman. Just like Obadiah said all those years ago. It's hard finding someone who could put up with Tony's craziness. But to find someone who accepts is, and even loves it, is even more incredible. Sure Pepper's had those days when she thought Tony would drive her insane, but that's what makes her all the more genuine. She sticks with him. Even with all the craziness going on around them. Not an easy feat to accomplish.

"I'm really glad you feel that way Pep." Tony says as he kisses her forehead. "Cuz you're right, Iron Man is who I am. And soon, he's gonna be who you are too."

"Huh?" Pepper and I say in confusion. Tony isn't making any sense, as usual.

"I realized a while ago, that even though I destroyed all my armor, lots of guys are still gonna be after my head. And when that happens, you tend to get caught in the crossfire."

I nod. He's got a point.

"So I've decided to build a new suit of armor. But this one's gonna be specifically for you Pep."

"Huh?" Pepper looks like she's still trying to register what Tony is saying.

I burst out laughing. "Nice! You guys can be the Iron Couple!" Oh this is gonna be fun.


	3. Dreams

_Tony's in trouble! I have to help him!_

_Gotta get my leg free from this mess. Are my repulsors working?_

_Dang it! That last explosion damaged my Assist suit._

_Gack! My helmet's filling up with water!_

_"Hang on!" I hear Tony's staticky voice say over the glitching comlink in my helmet. "I'll get you out!"_

_"That's my line!" I try to laugh back. But the salt water quickly filling my helmet makes me sputter instead._

_"Don't breathe too much! There's not enough air!" Tony warns me. I want to say, 'Well duh!' but the water line is now above my mouth._

_Suddenly, a giant piece of the mansion collapses right on top of us. My vision blurs. I hear Tony cough on sea water. We both don't have much time._

_"Take a deep breath sir!" I hear the AI say then the Mark 42's arm detaches from the rest of the armor and grabs Tony's hand and pulls him out of the collapsed ruins of his house._

_He turns around and helps me out of the rubble but suddenly the alarm in my suit starts blaring. I turn just in time to see a current hurtle a large chunk of rubble straight at my face. I try to dodge. It slams against my forehead. I can feel my brain rattling inside my skull. The metal caves in. More water pours in. Jagged titanium pieces my forehead. I can't breathe! There's no more air. My head's getting foggy. I can't think straight._

_I feel Tony's hand clamp onto mine. "Don't give up on me idiot!" He wheezes as he pulls me free of the wreckage._

_You're the idiot._

_"I'm gonna magnetize your suit to mine." Sure enough, my arms fly to his shoulder plates and stick as if they're attached with super glue. "JARVIS, get us out of here."_

_"Right away sir!" Iron Man's repulsor lift boots activate. He shoots through the water to the surface. I am really glad my Assist suit is magnetized to him. But still, my face feels like it's peeling off._

_We burst out of the ocean just as the helicopter that tried to blast us to Asgard is flying away. But I feel so tired and dizzy. I allow blackness to swallow my mind as I slip into unconsciousness._

_My eyes open to feel a biting wind on my face. I still feel groggy and my mind's still hazy. Fortunately or unfortunately, the Assist's view screen is still working. I catch a glimpse of us hurtling through a blizzard. The ground is somewhere. But there's no way I can pinpoint it with my likely concussion and the fact we're barreling out of control through the sky._

_"We are below five percent power." I hear JARVIS inform us._

_"Uh Tony, I think we're gonna die." I mumble under my breath._

_"Huh?" The stupid genius finally wakes up. The. He notices that we're gonna not-so-subtly crash into an innocent deer standing oblivious in the middle of the street. "Whoa!" That wakes him up. Nothing like a good ole plummet into the jaws of death to get you out of bed in the morning._

_He tries to correct our flight pattern. But with almost no power we slam into the concrete and go barreling into the forest instead of crashing into the deer. Not really the more preferable option, but at least animal rights groups won't protest. The 'Save the Rainforest' groups on the other hand..._

_A particularly rough branch rips what's left of my helmet off when we finally break through the trees into a snow covered field. I'm thrown from Tony's back and land face down in the snow._

_I hear Tony crash somewhere near me. Neither of us has the strength to do anything other than lie in the freezing cold as snowflakes drift from the sky._

_Finally, I hear Tony take his faceplate off then the Mark 42 releases him. His footsteps crunch in the snow. I feel him shake my shoulder._

_"Hey, hey, are you okay? Come on buddy, say something to me." He tells me._

_I groan. The snow muffles my voice. I lift up my finger. "Remind me to be really angry at you for giving a terrorist your address."_

_I hear Tony chuckle. "You'll get your chance to kill me later. Right now we gotta get out of here."_

_"Sure thing bud. Just one thing." I say._

_"What's that?" Tony asks_

_"I can't feel my body. Is that bad?"_

"Hey wake up. Geez I can't believe you fell asleep on me."

I slowly open my eyes to see Tony staring at me. Obviously annoyed.

I yawn and rub my eyes. "Hey Tony. Wow, that was weird. I had a dream about when we crashed into Tennessee."

"Don't 'Hey Tony. Wow, that was weird. I had a dream about when we crashed into Tennessee' me. You were supposed to be helping with the wiring. I've been explaining the schematics to you for over an hour." Tony gripes. "When did you fall asleep?"

I stretch. "Uh, about a little over an hour ago." Tony rolls his eyes.

"Honestly, you're as bad as Bruce." He grumbles.

"Hey you can't blame the dude. You were talking at him for two hours straight." I defend.

"It's supposed to be a part of his job to listen to people."

"Tony, Bruce is a doctor. You keep mixing him up with a psychiatrist." I tell him as I stand up.

"Isn't that the same thing?" Tony asks.

"Uh, no it's not. Pepper's right Tony. You really need your head examined."

"Well that's mean."

"Yeah, yeah." I pick up a mechanic leg, waiting to get plated with gold titanium alloy. "Pepper's armor is looking good Tony."

"Huh, oh yeah. I think it's gonna be pretty cool. Some of my best work if I do say so myself." Tony says, forgetting all about being mad at me.

"So, when are you gonna be done?" I ask.

"Tomorrow I think." He answers, scratching the back of his head.

Wait, what? Did he say-, "Tomorrow?" I looked at the structure of the suit. He had only been working on it a week. He's still working on the programming and wiring. The thing barely has a human-like shape. How's he planning on completing it by tomorrow?

"Yep. Gonna pull an all nighter. That way I can surprise Pepper with it for her birthday."

AN: Okay, for those people who couldn't figure it out, the Assist suit is the armor Tony tinkered for you one day when he was bored so you can fly around with him on adventures. The basic structure is pretty much the same as the Iron Man. It even comes with a built in JARVIS. The paint job is in your favorite colors and it doesn't take a genius to work it. Whether it can fly onto you like the Mark 42 is up to you. Have fun with your Assist suit!


	4. Stark on a Sugar High

"You look awful." I tell Tony as he sluggishly walks into the room.

"Oh shut up." He grouches. Dark circles are under his eyes and he seems to have aged a couple of decades in one night. It's understandable considering he constructed an entire suit of armor in a week and a day. A personal record for him but also took a heavy toll on his beauty sleep.

"Well if Pepper sees you looking like that, she won't be happy. And I can't cover for you this time." I tell him. Last night, Tony put me on Pepper patrol. He instructed me to distract her and not let her anywhere near his lab. Yeah easier said than done. Pepper is a really stubborn woman. I had to enlist the help of JARVIS and Rhodey to keep her away from the lab. When I finally got her to go to bed without Tony, I was almost as wiped out as he was.

He yawned. "Ah don't worry. A few gallons of coffee and Red Bull and I'll be fine." He assures me as he makes his way into the kitchen.

"If you do that, you won't sleep for a year." I tell him as he starts downing the energy drinks.

"Yeah, so?" He asks, gulping down a large mug of coffee then a can of Red Bull. I stare in disbelief at the insane inventor.

"Gross." Seven mugs of coffee and ten cans of Red Bull later, a spasm of sugar and caffeine races through his body making him twitch uncontrollably.

"Ohh yeah! That's the stuff! Whoo!" Tony practically shouts, unbelievably high on artificial energy. I cannot believe he actually did that. "Man, I feel great, do you feel great? Cuz I certainly do. Thirty-six hours without sleep no problem!" Oh my gosh. He's like a little kid on Halloween pigging out on candy all night. I can practically see him vibrating. "Ah man, I really need the bathroom now. Be right back!"

He zooms out of the kitchen and down the hall so fast there's a tailwind. I have to push my hair out of my face.

"JARVIS, make sure Tony sticks to protein shakes and alcohol. I think sugar and caffeine make him a just a little hyper... and more insane than normal."

"I'll make sure to take it off of Mister Stark's shopping list." The AI assures me. I rub my forehead, suddenly very tired.


End file.
